Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Beauty Sightings and Inspiration: Burlesque

Let's get one thing straight: I absolutely hate this movie. I think it was a glossy, predictable, trope-tacular Christina Aguilera vehicle that let her overrated hog-calling steamroll across some truly talented people (Stanley Tucci and Cher, to name a few), leaving an embarrassment of a film in its wake. But, uh...the makeup is pretty. It's really pretty. And we all know I'm a sucker for pretty makeup, especially if three of the main features are red lipsticks, winged eyeliner, and bucketloads of highlighter.

FYI, there are some beauty breakdowns for Burlesque available on Makeup411.com. Here's one for Christina and one for Cher. I refuse to refer to them by their fictional names because Aguilera is a dreadful actress who played a blatant Mary Sue and Cher is so far beyond this trash.

OPI nail polishes on Christina's dresser back home, and I think there's some handcream, too.

Cher holding an exceptionally 90s-esque gloss: frosty and taupe!

A purse exploding to reveal another OPI polish and what I'm 75% sure is a NYX lip gloss.

One of the Sue Devitt Eye Intensifier pencils! I'm pretty sure that brand is defunct now, which is a real shame; they had some beautiful products.

That big, white tube of what is most likely body cream and that bottle full of translucent orange liquid pops up on almost every vanity in this movie. Anybody recognize them?

An Estee Lauder lipliner.

Smashbox brushes appear to be a favorite in this movie! I only took this one shot, but trust me, there are plenty more; the Smashbox blush brush looks particularly popular.

A quick vanity shot.

Christina's makeup. That powder in the middle is definitely Smashbox, and I think the red gloss is either Smashbox or NARS--anybody want to confirm?

And now the inspiration photos! Burlesque gets a lot of comparisons to Showgirls, and while I think the latter is far less trite and, honestly, a bit more watchable, I have to say that it's a fair comparison as far as makeup goes. We're dealing with characters who perform in over-the-top shows, so the makeup is going to be suited to that. The makeup in Burlesque is a bit more finessed, though, probably because this is a film made after the advent of HD: you can't be anything less than perfect as a makeup artist if you want your clients to look good.

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